The Brilliant Life of Donna Noble
by CptScarlett
Summary: What if Donna Noble walked away without her memories, but with an underlying sense of her importance in the universe? *I posed the question on tumblr, why do all our Donna Noble stories seem to end up with her sad and hopeless and back to her miserable life after the Doctor takes her memories away? What if she ended up living a brilliant and meaningful life?


Oh, how I wish I owned them, if I did, things would be very different for the Most Important Woman in the Universe, Donna Noble. Alas, the BBC does, and shame on them for sending her away.

* * *

Donna Noble was missing two years of her life. The last thing she remembered, she was walking down the aisle to marry Lance.

When she talked to Mum and Gramps about her missing memories, they said she had run away from the wedding and disappeared for quite some time before contacting them to say she had decided to travel. Travel!? Where on earth had she traveled and how did she come up with the money to do it? Mum and Gramps had no explanation. They said she kept in touch occasionally, letting them know she was alright.

The worst part was, she couldn't remember her own father's passing. It happened during the first year of her missing time. Mum said that she did come home and stayed for quite a while to be with him at the end of his life.

How could she be missing such important details? If she was traveling, why didn't she at least send postcards to Mum and Gramps? They insisted that there was no evidence of her travels, only that one day she was gone, and almost two years later she returned.

She remembered how she felt on her wedding day. She was happy, or at least she thought she was at the time. Now she realized that she was settling for what she thought was some version of happiness that others felt. That she thought she needed. But really, it was out of desperation.

And then, two years later, when she woke up and realized she was missing all those memories, the desperation started to creep back in. She met Shaun, and once again, she felt like the 'right' thing to do was to get married, in order to be happy.

But near the end of her engagement, something happened. She witnessed her own fiancé and mother suddenly change faces into some strange blonde-headed man. She ran, calling Gramps, when she started to feel like she was burning from the inside out. Then the fire overwhelmed her and she passed out.

When she awoke, the desperation wasn't completely gone, but anytime she started to doubt herself, a voice in her head reminded her that she was good, she was important. She just _knew_ that those last two years of her life were spent doing very important things, even if she couldn't remember what they were. And for the first time in her life, she wasn't desperate-for love, attention, even for money.

She was confused about her relationship with Shaun. Something felt different about it now that she had these new feelings about herself. But she continued on with the wedding plans, even though a sinking feeling told her it was the wrong thing to do.

She secretly began looking into going to university to better herself. Looked at new job opportunities that could let her help people. She just wasn't sure how to make it happen.

It was at the wedding that she received the mystery lottery ticket. Mum and Gramps swore they didn't know who it had come from, but as she held that piece of paper, there was something about it that made the feelings inside her grow even stronger.

After winning the lottery, Shaun turned into a different person. Her bad feelings were confirmed; he wanted to waste all the money away on buying expensive things. Then she caught him with one of her best friends. She and Shaun divorced less than a year into their marriage, splitting the lottery winnings (though he had already wasted most of his).

Donna thought it interesting to think about how differently she felt about the money now than she would have years before. Back then, she would have gone out and spent the money buying expensive clothes, a nice car, a nice house…

But now, even with only half the winnings, Donna had plenty for her own dreams. She paid off the mortgage for Mum and Gramps and bought her own modest home. Nothing fancy, but it was hers. She invested a lot, so she could continue earning money on it. Then she began putting money into charities and creating some of her own.

Years later, she was on one of her many trips to third world countries, working with her charity to provide schooling to underprivileged children. As she played with the children she heard the oddest grinding sound.

She looked up from where she knelt with the group of children that surrounded her towards the direction of the sound. Standing at the corner of an old hut she saw a man in a brown suit watching her.

She found it odd that anyone would be wearing a suit in the sweltering heat. She stood to get a better look at the man, her head tilting slightly to the side as she examined him. He smiled gently at her, his gaze flitting between her and the children that surrounded her, then he turned to walk away.


End file.
